Wednesday, August 28, 2013

"While it wasn’t the first item coach Mark Dantonio
covered Tuesday, it eventually was revealed senior Kevin Muma would be
the Spartans kicker.Thanks to social media, in fact, Muma’s mom found out before he did. 'I got a text from my mom,' Muma said. 'I haven’t even been able to talk to her yet.' While
it might have come as a surprise to Muma’s mother, it almost certainly
has been one to many who follow Michigan State football. Muma
has been handling strictly the kickoff duties the past three seasons
while Dan Conroy has taken care of field goals and extra points. And
during spring practice, Dantonio said walk-on Kevin Cronin was the best
kicker. On top of that, freshman Michael Geiger arrived for preseason
camp as the top kicker in the nation. Everything
seemed to point toward one more year of kickoffs for Muma. But as camp
progressed, the fifth-year senior started to separate himself. 'He
had a great camp,' Dantonio said. 'Muma has been consistent throughout.
He has to remain consistent the rest of this week. He’s got a job to
win game day, but I’m pretty confident that he’s done the job. He
certainly has all the ability.”

"Muma was an impressive 7-of-8 kicking field goals in Saturday's closed scrimmage. Geiger was 5-of-6 kicking field goals, including a 46-yarder. 'It's
tight,'' coach Mark Dantonio said following Saturday's scrimmage. 'Kevin Muma has
had a great camp. At end of game made a 46 yard kick with two seconds
left. I thought they both kicked very well. I'm happy to see Muma kicking well.'.... 'Muma has had a great camp thus far, and Geiger is in there,''
Dantonio said. 'Those two are competing. Cronin has been good, but Muma
has been very consistent, and Geiger, for a true freshman, is right
there. (Muma) has taken a big step forward, his confidence is very high. He's 22 of 24 in scrimmage situations.'' Make it 29 of 32 after Saturday'."

Three-year letterwinner has spent the past three seasons as Michigan
State's starting kickoff specialist . . . has a career average of 64.4
yards on kickoffs.This year he is competing for the placekicking job which is open with the graduation of Dan Conroy.

Spring game: In
constant swirling winds, both of the Spartan placekickers made their
only field-goal attempts and also connected on their PATs. Cronin
drilled a 30-yarder in the first quarter to give the Green a 3-0 lead,
while Muma also booted a 30-yard field goal that tied the game at 17 in
the fourth quarter.

April 2013: head coach Mark Dantonio said, “I would say Cronin is having an excellent spring so far,
and right now he sits at No. 1 and he’s been very consistent. With that
being said, Mike Geiger is the young man we recruited. Very highly
thought-of kicker in the country, and he’ll come in and add immediate
competition for that position.”

Kicker: Michael Gieger, freshman (Toledo, OH / Ottawa Hills HS)

"I know how important it will be, especially the style of play
Michigan State plays. Every point and every field goal is critical. I
embrace that.'... I've tried to
stay as sharp as possible by becoming more accurate and watching film of
my kicking to stay technically sound. If I keep doing
what I'm doing and keep improving, I could come in and win that spot.
But I know I have to come in and compete.''

"Geiger’s got to come in immediately and be
thrown into the group. I don’t think we
can sit there and wait and say, ‘Is he going to be the guy?’ He’s gotta
get a lot of reps and he’s gotta kick in front of our football team.
That will be his first pressure situation. The next thing he has got to be able to do is kick in situational
things that determine the outcome of a scrimmage or the outcome of a
situation. We’re gonna try and put pressure on him and let him go head
to head with (Kevin) Muma and (Kevin) Cronin and even Evan Fischer. But we have to put pressure on him.” - head coach Mark Dantonio

Sadler was named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List, the Augusta Sports
Council announced on Wednesday. The award honors the nation's top
punter. A two-year letter winner, Sadler has spent the past two seasons as
Michigan State's starting punter and owns a career average of 42.4
yards per punt, which is currently sixth best in MSU history. He has
placed 40 percent of his career punts inside the 20 (56-of-140) and 20
percent inside the 10 (28-of-140).

“Winter and summer conditioning is not actually about conditioning, it’s
about growing as a team. So far we’ve done a very good job
and have very good chemistry. I’m really excited about that.”

"This off season has done a lot for me. I've increased my strength
enormously. Most of all I've matured a lot, not only as a football
player, but as a young man. Since I started as a true freshman my goal
is to come back my sophomore year and kill it! I'm excited that I have a
year of experience under my belt and I'm ready to help my team however I
can. We're going to the Rose Bowl baby!"

2012: Missed the entire 2012 season after suffering a neck injury over the summer.
2011: Appeared in three games as a long snapper to earn
his first letter . . . was the starting long snapper for the Spartans in
the 2012 Outback Bowl win over No. 18 Georgia.